REVIEW: The Holdovers (2023)

Movie Reviews

There are a few things that can get me to see a movie no matter what. It’s embarrassing to admit and has led to me watching a lot of trash, but if a movie comes from the right studio or director or even casts certain actors, I’ll absolutely see it. Paul Giamatti is an actor I’ll watch in anything. If he were starring in the cheesiest romance or the dumbest horror movie of all time, I’d drag myself out to see it. Such was my impetus to see The Holdovers, Alexander Payne’s latest film, this weekend. I actually don’t know much about Payne; I love Sideways (also starring Giamatti), but The Descendants is genuinely one of the dullest, most depressing films I’ve ever sat through. I’m already not big on family drama or any kind of straight drama. Tension and pathos should be present in a story, but some levity or at least warmth would be nice, too. But I digress. This is all to say that I had no idea what to expect from The Holdovers, a holiday comedy with a bite. Let’s have a look.

The Holdovers stars Paul Hunham (Giamatti), professor of antiquities at Barton, a private religious school for boys. Everyone hates Paul because he’s rude, difficult, and fails most of his students. The staff takes turns staying at Barton over Christmas break to supervise the boys forced to stay at school. This year (1970), it isn’t Paul’s turn, but he ends up having to stay anyway. Enter Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a bright but problematic student. The other boys eventually get to go skiing, but Tully’s mom abandons him to honeymoon with her new husband. This leaves him, Paul, and cook Mary (Da’Vone Joy Randolph) to spend Christmas and New Year’s together. What ensues is a funny, sad, heartwarming series of misadventures.

The acting from all of the main performers is on point. I knew Paul Giamatti would be great, but I’ll say it anyway. He’s great! His character is deliciously despicable at the beginning, a complete asshole who can’t even say “thank you” for the surprise gesture of fresh-baked Christmas cookies. When the film ends, Paul isn’t magically transformed by the spirit of Christmas. He isn’t suddenly a nice person like Scrooge or the Grinch. He experiences a more measured, realistic growth as he learns more about Angus and Mary. I don’t prefer this over the alternative; I think both are valid and serve their purposes in entertainment. But The Holdovers is nothing if not grounded and well aware of the consequences that go along with our actions.

Angus similarly evolves into a slightly more empathetic character. He’s also just a kid, and I found his behavior understandable after learning more about his parents. Yeesh. As for Mary, she doesn’t really change because she’s in the midst of raw grief. Mary’s biggest breakthrough comes when she’s overcome with the pain and the others try to comfort her. I knew Da’Vine Joy Randolph from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and The Idol, but I didn’t realize she was the same actress here. This is a great performance. Her personality, accent, and sense of humor feel very authentic in The Holdovers. I don’t know Dominic Sessa from anything else, but I liked his performance as Angus. Tate Donovan also appears as his stepfather, Stanley, and Gillian Vigman as his mom, Judy.

The Holdovers is extremely well-balanced in its tone. This movie is funny, tragic, and honest. I could see this becoming a holiday cult classic; it’s an offbeat choice I’d watch alongside About a Boy, for instance. The Holdovers was unintentionally my first Christmas movie of the year. The same thing happened with A Haunting in Venice before Halloween. I think this is the perfect kick-off to the holiday season and has just the right amount of sweetness, sarcasm, and cynicism. All the characters have flaws, and nobody is a hero in the traditional sense of the word. The most Christmassy thing about the film isn’t the setting; it’s the choice Paul makes because of his growing compassion for his troubled student. I really appreciate the measured approach to this arc.

The costumes, music, and even visual aspects of the film are distinctly entrenched in the 1970s. The first thing I noticed in The Holdovers was that the credits are designed like those in older films. The film has crackle marks and flaws, just like older movies as well. Whether The Holdovers was actually shot on film (as opposed to digital) or just altered to look this way, I like it. It evokes a very particular feeling and serves the film well. It exists in a very specific reality, and those first few moments go a long way towards beckoning the audience in.

This is when I would typically talk about some issue I had with the film, either technically or personally. The only problem with The Holdovers is that I don’t really have a problem with it. I wouldn’t call the movie perfect, as I try to use that word as little as possible. If something is perfect, even just for me on a personal level, it needs to mean something. But while I wouldn’t consider The Holdovers flawless, nothing stands out as a problem. The acting, cinematography, music, etc., all serve the larger narrative and emotions the director and crew seek to create. They succeeded, and I enjoyed the movie a lot.

The Holdovers is an unexpected holiday treat. Much like Sideways, Giamatti and Payne’s last movie together, The Holdovers follows flawed characters and leaves them with an open ending. These movies feel like real life but in a vibrant, relatable way rather than a drab, depressing one. That’s where The Descendants lost me and why I haven’t revisited it. The movie has no action, and Paul is denied any big victory like a hot girlfriend or an impressive promotion at work. As such, The Holdovers won’t be for everyone, but I liked it, and I would recommend checking it out.